National security lecture series comes to Cornell

MOUNT VERNON—National security experts will speak at Cornell College this fall as part of a National Security Network’s “Around the Country” series. The National Security Network, based in Washington, D.C., is a foreign policy organization dedicated to strengthening public understanding and support of international relations, global affairs, and national security.

National security experts who will visit Cornell include:

Monday, Sept. 15: Dr. James Ludes is the executive director of the American Security Project. He was formerly a legislative assistant for defense and foreign policy for Senator John Kerry from 2002-2006. Prior to that he was editor-in-chief of National Security Studies Quarterly and has co-edited two books, Attacking Terrorism and Twenty-First Century Weapons Proliferation.

Monday, Oct. 6: Has been changed to Roger Cressey. Cressey is the former director for transnational threats at the National Security Council and current president of Good Harbor Consulting.

Monday, Oct. 27: Joshua Casteel was a member of the interrogation units sent to overhaul the prison after abuse at Abu Ghraib had become public.  In 2005, at the age of 25, Mr. Casteel was honorably discharged from Active Duty as a conscientious objector. He is the author of Letters from Abu Ghraib, in which he recounts his experience as an interrogator and a Christian. 

All events are held in Hedges Conference Room in The Commons on the Cornell College campus at 3:30 p.m.

The speaker series is being sponsored at Cornell by The Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy, and will also be presented at the University of Iowa, Grinnell College, and Drake University.